


To you and your kin

by combefaerie



Category: Father Brown (2013)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, F/F, Gen, M/M, secret scones 2017
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-03
Updated: 2018-01-03
Packaged: 2019-02-27 18:43:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13254384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/combefaerie/pseuds/combefaerie
Summary: Christmas morning dawns bright and early, and Father Brown wakes up to a slightly more full house than he had expected.





	To you and your kin

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TheGoodDoctor](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheGoodDoctor/gifts).



> This is a Secret Scones gift for TheGoodDoctor/doctors-star, she asked for found family tropes and I hope I have fulfilled at least some of that!

Christmas morning dawned fresh and crisp, with the birdsong muffled by a thin blanket of snow that had settled overnight. Father Brown rose, said his morning prayers to himself and dressed, going over the service he was going to do in only a few hours at St Marys. As he descended the stairs he realised he could hear voices from the kitchen, along with movement and the occasional snippet of song. Confused, he stepped in to the kitchen to find it full of people, with not only Mrs McCarthy at the stove but also Susie making mince pies with a much greater aptitude than she had shown before she left for London. As he turned he then found Sid and Bunty crouched below the Christmas tree, carefully inspecting each of the gifts and trying to guess what each one was, and bickering about who was right. Lady Felicia was seated at the table with the paper swaying absently to the record that was slowly spinning in the corner. His confusion at her presence (surely she should have been in Rhodesia?) was joined by bemusement as he noticed the last person in the room. Inspector Sullivan sat next to the countess, leaning over her shoulder and offering the occasional suggestion for the crossword.

 

As he stood in the doorway Sullivan looked up at him and smiled. “Good morning Father, and merry Christmas, I have a letter for you from Valentine, do make sure I remember to give it to you today.” At his words everyone else looked up to where he stood, and smiled. Well. Nearly everyone smiled; Mrs McCarthy just bustled over with a plate of scrambled eggs and toast, herding the Father into a chair at the table

“Eat up now, I need to go and make sure the church is all set up as it should, I left the flowers to Mrs Green and Lord knows she will have tried her best but I made sure I had enough spare that I can fix any that are looking a little sad. I sent Sid out for some extra holly this morning-”

“And got my hands all scratched up in the process!”

“-so if all else fails we’ll have some of that.” she continued as if the interruption hadn’t taken place, putting more plates of food on the table as Sid and Bunty joined them. 

 

Bunty was wearing a blouse with a sparkling brooch of holly and ivy pinned to the front and trousers, and even with Mrs McCarthy’s occasional disapproving looks at wearing trousers on Christmas day it had to be said that she looked very nice. Lady Felicia was dressed to the nines as usual, and looking especially festive in bright reds and greens, while Susie’s dress was plainer and more muted in its colours but nevertheless pretty. Even Sullivan had had a swathe of tinsel draped around his shoulders in a nod to Christmas. He had the look of someone who had forgotten to remove it, as every time it caught his eye he looked mildly annoyed, but he still did not take it off, while Sid was looking more tinsel and ribbon than man from the amount wrapped around his arms and body. Father Brown hoped he might take it off before he got to the church if he was planning on coming to the service, but really it was anyone’s guess. 

 

After he had eaten and finished his morning preparations he was hurried out the door with Mrs McCarthy, Susie, and a thankfully non-sparkling Sid, while Felicia, her niece, and Sullivan stayed at the house. Father Brown was part way through asking why they were staying at his house, or even why they were there in the first place, but his only response was that they were

“-perfectly capable of keeping an eye on the food for lunch, and I’m sure even we can’t mess up sprouts and carrots!”

“We can have food ready for when you return, and we’ll lay the table and everything.”

Mrs McCarthy groused a little about leaving the food to the worst cooks of their group, but with limited options decided that it wasn’t that bad, while Susie commented that she trusted Bunty to remember to take care of her mince pies. The Father noticed that at her words Sid grinned and elbowed her slightly as they walked along, and a slight blush coloured her cheeks. Strange; he would have thought the love the two had shared would have cooled over the years they had spent apart.

 

The service went well, and the church was decorated as beautifully as it normally was, and while Mrs M congratulated Mrs Green greatly, Father Brown could feel her slight disappointment at not being able to preen at the drop in quality after she handed the responsibility of the flowers to someone else. He stayed and chatted with the parishioners for a little while longer, then the four of them made their way back to the house. As he walked watching their breath puff in clouds in front of their faces and they listened to Sid’s off key renditions of carols just sung, Father Brown wondered once again why all of this was happening, but that any complaints about the day so far were the last thing on his mind as he was getting to spend it with all of his favourite people.

 

The rectory was warm and smelling wonderfully fragrant with the turkey roasting in the oven and Bunty standing, somewhat nervously, by the stove watching the pot the Christmas pudding was steaming in. Her relief at Mrs McCarthy bustling in to take over was palpable, along with everyone else who had been left there, and not having to look after the food cooking left her free to offer Susie the plate of mince pies. The nervousness on her face as she waited for the verdict was clear to see, as was the relief and joy as the other woman smiled warmly at her. The food was delicious, the cracker jokes terrible, and watching the usually serious Inspector laugh warmly with a purple crown sliding off his head was very amusing. After eating they decided to leave the washing up, at least until they had opened their presents, and Felicia bodily dragging Bridgette out of the kitchen left no room for argument.

 

The presents were well received, with Father Brown and Mrs McCarthy each getting a new choir book, beautifully illuminated, from Felicia. As much as Bridgette complained that she couldn’t accept such a gift, the other woman wouldn’t hear of it, and he later saw her stroking over the gold lettering almost reverentially. Father Brown saw how close Sid and Sullivan were sitting over unwrapped presents, and when Sullivan’s hat slipped as if to fall off his head, his only response to Sid tenderly moving it back into place was a soft smile and a blush. Ah, now that was a not totally unexpected surprise, he supposed that must have been part of why Sid reacted the way he did to the Inspector during his time working in Kembleford; he did always have an issue with reverting back to teasing and pulling pigtails if initial flirtation seemed promising but ultimately unsuccessful. 

 

Bunty and Susie were sitting side by side, their hands almost touching, a studied nonchalance on both their faces. It was at that moment when Sid popped up from behind the sofa with a sprig of mistletoe clutched in his hand.

“Sid! What are you doing?”

“Tradition Miss Penelope” he grinned as he kissed each of the girls on the cheek, then sat back keeping the greenery suspended between blonde and brunette hair. The two sat there for a couple of seconds, matching red high on both their cheeks, when Susie turned to the other woman.

“Hey, look at me?”

Bunty looked up, and as Susie took her chin in her hand and leant in, her face cycled through a kaleidoscope of emotions from shock to fear to excitement to uninhibited joy. Father Brown chuckled to himself as he watched the two kiss with matching smiles, and Sullivan swat at Sid who had sat back down next to him.

“I hope you are happy with yourself Carter”

“You know, I think I am. Do I get a kiss too?”

“If you’re very lucky”

 

Felicia was sitting quietly, singing softly to herself and smiling down at Mrs McCarthy who had fallen asleep leaning on her shoulder, and as Father Brown looked around the room he decided that this was the best Christmas he could have hoped for. Even though he was still unsure as to why or how half of them were there as no one had quite explained, spending Christmas with his family was how he would have most wanted to spend his day.


End file.
